210 THE IRON ORE DISTRICT OF EAST TEXAS. 



An average of forty-three complete analyses of iron ores from Smith County 

 gives the following results: 



Metallic iron 40 . 56 per cent. 



Alumina ..."... 10 . 13 per cent. 



Silica 22 . 41 per cent. 



Phosphorus .24 per cent. 



Sulphur .07 per cent. 



Water . 9.97 per cent. 



From the above figures it will be seen that the ores are of a very good grade. 

 Several of the ores among those counted in making the above average were 

 conglomerates very high in silica. This of course would raise the general 

 average of silica and lessen that of phosphorus and other constituents, 



In his report on the iron ores of Eastern Texas Mr. Penrose has divided 

 and discussed .the iron ores under three heads. First, Brown Laminated 

 ores; second, Geode or Nodular ores; and third, Conglomerate ores. For 

 the sake of clearness and convenience, I will follow his classification of the 

 ores. All three varieties of these ores are well represented and pretty widely 

 distributed over the county. 



In the southern portion of the county are several very extensive outcrop- 

 pings of the laminated variety, but by far the largest beds of this ore are 

 seen in the northern part of the county. There the ores appear in broken 

 areas, at from one to seven miles south of the Sabine River, throughout the 

 whole northern portion of the county 



Along the bluffs of the Neches River, in the southwestern portion of the 

 county, there occurs a very fine quality of limonite ore, though it is probably 

 not in sufficient quantities to render it commercially valuable. (See Analysis 

 No. 20 in tables.) 



I. BROWN LAMINATED ORES. 



Dr. Penrose describes these ores as follows:* 



"The ore is a brown hematite of a rich chestnut color, and often of a 

 highly resinous lustre. In structure it varies from a compact massive variety 

 showing no structure, to a highly laminated form, the laminae varying from 

 one-sixteenth of an inch to one quarter of an inch in thickness, frequently 

 separated by hollow spaces, and sometimes containing thin seams of clay. 

 These often give it a buff color and a crumbly nature, and hence the name 

 often applied to it of 'buff crumbly ore.' The laminae frequently show a 

 black glossy surface, though the interior is always the characteristic rich 

 chestnut brown color. * * * The ores occur in horizontal beds from 

 one to three feet thick, and average between eighteen inches and two feet in 



* First Annual Report Geological Survey of Texas, 1889, pages 66 and 67. 



